Malladi Vishnu stirs up a hornet’s nest

Disquiet in Vangaveeti Radhakrishna’s camp

Talk about Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu shifting to the YSR Congress Party has stirred up the hornet’s nest in Krishna District. The first to react were followers of his arch political rival Vangaveeti Radha Krishna.

Mr. Vishnu defeated Mr. Radha Krishna, the then sitting MLA, by a slim margin of 800 votes in the 2009 general elections.

‘Ardent YSR fan’

Mr. Radhakrishna, who contested as a candidate of the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), has since come into the YSR Congress. At the time of his joining the party the leader of the party Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy said that Mr. Radhakrishna was to him what “Lakshmana was to Rama”. But, some others in the ranks say that Mr. Vishnu was a true fan of the late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. They recall that Mr. Radhakrishna had differences with Dr. Reddy and left the Congress Party.

Reliable sources in the YSR Congress party say that Mr. Radhakrishna and his close friend and Gudivada MLA Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao met Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is still in jail, just to discuss this issue on Thursday.

Mr. Vishnu is not without support in the YSR Congress. The party district convenor Samineni Udaya Bhanu is his good friend. In a wonderful co-incidence Mr. Bhanu is not very fond of Mr. Radhakrishna. The efforts of Mr. Bhanu put in to bring in Vangaveeti Santhan Kumar, the son of former Vuyyur MLA Chalapathi Rao and cousin of Mr. Radhakrishna, into the YSR Congress are known to all.

The motive behind getting Santhan Kumar into the party was to primarily undermine the importance of Mr. Radhakrishna. Having failed to block the entry of Mr. Radhakrishna now attempts are being made to bring his rivals to check his growth, say followers of Mr. Radhakrishna.

The YSR Congress Party, which has become a melting pot of disgruntled elements from other parties, is full of such stories. The entry of former Minister M.K. Baig’s son and daughter Shafi Baig and Shakeela Shajit, was also blocked for a while by followers of former MLA Jaleel Khan. But, they went directly to Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy and joined.